Blackworm
computer worm
Blackworm is an Internet worm discovered on January 20, 2006 that infects several versions of Microsoft Windows. It is also known as Grew.a, Grew.b, Blackmal.e, Nyxem.e, Nyxem.d, Mywife.d, Tearec.a, CME-24, and Kama Sutra.
Blackworm spreads mainly by sending infected email attachments, but also infects other computers by copying itself over network shares. The virus removes antivirus programs from remote computers before attempting to infect them. When first installed, it copies itself to the Windows and system directories. It uses filenames that resemble those of legitimate Windows system files in an attempt to remain hidden. It activates on the third day of each month; the first known activation happened on February 3, 2006. On activation, the virus overwrites data files of many common types, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents; ZIP and RAR archives; and PDFs. It can destroy files on fixed and removable drives and tries, but fails, to affect data on network drives. It also attempts to disable antivirus programs by removing the registry entries that automatically run them and deleting the antivirus programs directly.
“Blackworm” enters the record as computer worm. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Blackworm, computer and worm can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Blackworm” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Blackworm, computer and worm provides the most credible route into that argument.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4923654. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2006.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Blackworm” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.